It is only during the last few years that man has generally realized that in the world of nature a balance exists between all forms of life. No living thing can exist by itself: it is a part of a system (体系) in which all forms of life are joined together. If we change one part of the natural order, this will in its turn almost certainly bring about changes in some other part.
The cutting down of forests reduces the supply of oxygen. The killing of weeds and insects by chemicals leads to the wide spread poisoning of animals and birds. The throwing of waste products into the ocean harm to life in the sea, while waste gases change the chemical balance of the atmosphere.
And so we could go on, adding more examples, until in despair (绝望) we might feel like giving up the struggle to control and keep within limits these harmful human activities. Man is very clever at changing the world around him to satisfy his immediate needs, but not so clever at looking far ahead, or at thinking about what the future results of his action might be.
【小题1】The first paragraph mainly tells us that __________.

A．it is very important to protect forests

B．there are some living things which can exist all by themselves without change

C．all forms of life belong to a system in which all the part can be changed for one another

D．we cannot change one form of life or matter without disturbing (扰乱) the balance of nature

For much of the world, vegetarianism (素食主义) is largely a matter of economics: Meat costs a lot more than beans or rice, so meat becomes a special-occasion dish. Even where meat is more plentiful, it’s still used in control, and it often provides a side note to a meal rather than taking center stage.
In countries like the United States where meat is not as expensive, though, people choose to be vegetarians for reasons other than cost. Parental preferences(父母亲的偏爱), religious or other beliefs, and health problems are among the most common reasons for choosing to be a vegetarian. Many people choose a vegetarian diet out of concern over animal rights or the environment. And lots of people have more than one reason for choosing vegetarianism.
Different people follow different forms of vegetarianism. A true vegetarian eats no meat at all, including chicken and fish. A lactoovo(乳制品)  vegetarian eats dairy products  and eggs, but keeps out meat, fish, and chicken. It follows, then, that a lacto(乳，乳汁) vegetarian eats dairy products but not eggs, and an ovo （蛋，鸡蛋） vegetarian eats eggs but not dairy products.
A stricter form of vegetarianism is veganism. Not only are eggs and dairy products excluded (排除) from a vegan diet, so are animal products like honey. Some macrobiotic (养生的) diets fall into the vegan category. Macrobiotic diets limit not only animal products but also refined（经过提炼的） and processed foods, foods with preservatives, and foods that contain caffeine or other stimulants (刺激物).
Following a macrobiotic or vegan diet could lead to nutritional deficiencies (营养不足) in some people. Teens need to be sure their diets include enough nutrients to fuel growth, particularly protein and calcium (钙). If you’re interested in following a vegan or macrobiotic diet it’s a good idea to talk to a registered dietitian（营养学家）. He or she can help you design meal plans that include enough nutrients.
【小题1】The underlined sentence in the first paragraph probably means ______.

A．all the people should become vegetarians

B．teens should be careful to be vegetarians

C．vegetarianism is not a good thing for the world

D．vegetarianism can make a country develop faster

It may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech．At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned．Fortunately, the moments are usually not obvious to the listeners. Why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say. They hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser．When such moments occur, don’t worry about them, Just continue as if nothing happened．

Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that don’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech – “ I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumble（结巴）his words twice during the speech．Most likely, however, you don’t remember．Why? Because you were fixing your attention on is message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition．But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performer. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that express the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly．Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speakers’ attractiveness by making him more human．

As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being imperfect．Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely．

1.

The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will ___________．

   A．be smarter than you        B．notice your mistakes

   C．do better than you          D．know what you are talking about

2.

You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because ___________．

   A．your attention is on the content

   B．you don’t fully understand the speech

   C．you don’t know what the speaker plans to say

   D．you find the way of speech-making more important

3.

It can be inferred from the passage that ___________．

   A．giving a speech is like giving a performance

   B．one to two mistakes in a speech may not be bad

   C．the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made

   D．the more mistakes a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be

4.

What would be the best title of the passage? 

   A．How to Be a Perfect Speaker

   B．How to Make a Perfect Speech

   C．Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech

   D．Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech

Standardized exam in American public education are being reformed. Over the next four years, hundreds of university professors and testing experts will work together to design new assessment system.

The new tests will be computer-based and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in all states，including students’ ability to read complex texts, synthesize(合成)information and do research projects．

    Because the new tests will be computerized and will be administered several times throughout the school year, they can provide faster feedback(反馈)to teachers．If these plans work out, It’ll turn the current testing system upside down．

    One group，led by Florida，will be made up of 25 states and the District of Columbia．The group was awarded $170 million．The other group, whose membership over-laps the first，has31 states and is led by Washington．The group was given $160 million．Twelve of the 44 states are

participating in both groups but are expected eventually to choose one set of tests．

   The two groups are supposed to work in a friendly competition，though their plans are very similar．Both groups will produce tests that rely heavily on technology and both groups’ tests will include so-called performance-based tasks，designed to mirror complex，real-world situations．

   In performance-based tasks，students are given a problem－they could be told, for example, to suppose they are a mayor who needs to reduce a city’s pollution—and must write about how they would solve the problem．

   The new tests could be useful to teachers by giving them information on what their students are learning, but it might also require some mid-course adjustments.

   Over the past decade, the federal No Child Left Behind law has emphasized helping low-achieving students improve their basic reading and math by encouraging states to produce tests that measure relatively low-1evel skills. Although the Bush-era law is still on the books, two

years of Obama administration policy have been leading schools in new directions．   

1..  . What is the main idea of this passage?

   A. Obama’s education policy takes the lead.

   B. A computer-based testing system is adopted. 

C. American education system has been changed.

   D. Experts are reinventing the student testing system.

2..   Why are multiple-choice exams to be given up?

   A. Because they are not computer-based.

   B. Because they can’t test students’ higher-order skills.

   C. Because they can’t provide proper feedback for teachers.

   D. Because they can’t test students’ general reading ability.

3..   The underlined part in Para. 4 probably means________.

   A. the two groups have some shared members

   B. the other group is more demanding than the first

   C. the groups have different tasks of their own

   D. the other group does better than the first group in the task

4..   According to the passage, performance-based tasks may refer to tasks that______.

   A. are related to real-world problems

   B. have to be performed in an imaginary world

   C. teach us theories through complex problems

   D. can only be completed by relying heavily on technology

5..  . From the last paragraph, we can infer that_________.

   A. the No child Left Behind policy is not helpful

   B. the Obama administration’s policy is highly praised

   C. the two policies both emphasize math and reading abilities

   D. the two policies both emphasize the development of practical skills